This invention relates to sponsons for increasing stability and buoyancy of small boats. More particularly, this invention is to sponsons having a series of interconnected discrete sections that permit rapid removal and replacement of sections that might become damaged to quickly restore full operational capabilities.
Small motor-driven boats are used for a wide variety of demanding tasks requiring fast speed and quick responsiveness. One exemplary small fast boat is known as the rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) of about 10 meters in length. The RHIB is a rugged, seaworthy, versatile boat designed for short range insertion and extraction of personnel, coastal resupply and surveillance.
Referring to FIG. 1, a small boat 6 such as the RHIB has an air-filled sponson 7 that is connected to and extends along a shell-like metal or fiberglass rigid central hull 8 in a continuous mounting-interface 9. Sponson 7 reaches from the bow and along both sides to the stern of central hull 8 and usually has one or more enclosed chambers 7A that optionally can be filled with foam instead of air. Mounting interface 9 can be a series of mating portions on sponson 7 and hull 8 securely engaging one another in accordance with well known techniques/means routinely practiced in the art. Sponson 7 stabilizes boat 6 and increases the payload while improving control and handling characteristics particularly in rough-water.
However, a problem with contemporary sponson-equipped boats is that each air-filled or solid-foam sponson 7 has one or more internal chambers 7A that are integrally formed as a unit, and these chambers 7A are vulnerable to damage by puncture, ripping, impact, etc. Consequently, if only a single chamber 7A of a contemporary sponson 7 is damaged to the extent of being non-repairable in the field, the damaged/flooded chamber can make the entire boat 6 inoperable.
As a result, many otherwise capable boats are abandoned when their sponsons are damaged. The other option is to load-up the disabled boat and haul it to a distant repair facility. There, the partially damaged sponson is totally removed and discarded, and a completely new sponson is installed. This procedure is not only expensive (a new complete sponson costs about $12,000.00 for the RHIB) but so much time can be spent that, effectively, a boat can be shut down when and where it is most likely to be needed.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for a modular sponson for a boat made up of a discrete sections that permit rapid removal and replacement of damaged sections with new sections in the field to assure continuing operational readiness.